Fire and Shadow
by apocalypse77
Summary: The Digidestined have been called by Gennai back into the Digital World to face a new threat. But from where does the true threat come, without or within?
1. Gennai Calls

Chapter I: Gennai Calls 

It had been almost four years since the Digidestined had defeated MaloMyotismon.  Life was doing what it always did after a terrible crisis, returning to its old ways.  School was school, at least for Davis, Kari, TK, Yolei, Cody, and Ken.  They were eighteen now, with the exception of Cody, who was sixteen, and were dealing with all those wonderful problems teenagers face.  Problems of the more normal sort, that is; they had not been out saving the world for quite some time.  Matt, Tai, Sora, Joe, Izzy, and Mimi were either in college or out living on their own, and Mimi had moved back to Japan after her father's job transferred him back to Tokyo, and the twelve stayed in touch with each other.  

_At least we don't have to save the world anymore_, Izzy thought to himself.  At the moment, his Digivice was sitting on the mantle over his fireplace, gathering dust, and had been there for a year.  For a while after the MaloMyotismon problem, he wore it around with him, because he never knew when he might need it again.  Or so he told himself.  The rest of the Digidestined had stopped carrying them around a long time ago, but wearing his made Izzy feel needed, like he was a part of something bigger again.  

College was a real drag at times.  It was just so big, he felt like he was simply lost in the shuffle, that every face he saw was a new one.  It wasn't that he didn't enjoy college, especially the challenge of the courses, and it wasn't that he didn't have friends; on the contrary, he had twenty-three very good ones, but he was so busy that he usually didn't get to see them more than once a week, and after a few years, his patience was getting thin.  

His laptop beeped.  He'd exchanged his old one for a newer one, this time for a purple-colored Macintosh laptop.  It was insanely expensive, but he needed a laptop this powerful for some of the math he was taking, and so the university picked up some of the tab.  It was worth it, anyway.  Back when he got it, Tai had told him, "Hey, now you can browse uselessly around the Internet even faster!"  Izzy smiled, as he always did at memories of his friends.

He realized that the beeping sound was the 'e-mail received' sound he had set his computer up to give.  It wasn't often that he got e-mail, and when it was it was more often than not junk mail, but he thought that reading the e-mail would take his mind off the old times.  It was from, of all people, Gennai.  He'd sent a few e-mails to Izzy and the others every now and again over the last four years, usually just to keep up with old friends, so his writing an e-mail wasn't terribly unexpected.  It had been a while since he'd written, after all.    

What Izzy didn't expect was the massive size of the file.  Izzy noticed it was some sort of visual movie format, and started downloading it.  _So it _is_ a good thing I got that satellite hookup to the university's T3 line._  The file was enormous, but it finished in a matter of minutes.  Izzy patted his computer.  _Good old T3.  _Izzy was surprised to see that it was encrypted, but he ran it through some decryption algorithms, fortunately ones that Gennai himself had given Izzy, and a fullscreen video equivalent of the still-young Gennai appeared on Izzy's screen.  

"Greetings from the Digital World, Izzy.  I apologize for the unusual method of contact, but it can't really be helped.  You see, I'm in a bit of a bind here.  I can't tell you about it now; even sending out this message with its encryption is a great risk.  I hope you still have those decryption programs I gave you, but of course if you're reading this, then you do.  I need you, all of you, to come to the Digital World again.  I'm not at home right now, but I'll fill you in when you get here.  I've attached a little program to this e-mail, one that you might find very useful indeed.  

I will see you soon, Izzy.  Please come quickly."

Izzy practically leapt out of his chair.  _Anything, anything at all to get away from school for a while_.  He snatched his Digivice off the mantle will all the vigor of a ten-year-old grabbing his new toy at Christmas.  "Tentomon!" he called, as he sat back down in front of his computer and brought up the program.  It was some sort of map.

Izzy recognized it as the Digital World almost immediately, mostly because of all the work he had done with the D3s.  But this picture was in full color and had detailed information on terrain features.  He slid the mouse pointer over the "Activate" button.  The computer paused for a moment, processing information.

"Activation sequence initiated, connecting to satellite…"

"Connection established, program running."

"Hardware update initiated."

_Hardware update?_ Izzy thought.  _How could my computer update its own hardware?_  The computer glowed purple for a few moments.  The screen popped back on.

"Hardware update completed." 

"Touchscreen activated and installed."

"Voice commands now recognized."

Izzy thought for a moment, then reached up and touched the "OK" button on his screen.  He was surprised, as his finger seemed to melt into the screen a little bit.  It was just then he noticed the screen was 3-D.  _Man, Macintosh has nothing on Gennai.  _He pushed on until he touched the screen.  The dialog box closed, and the map reappeared.  But now it was covered with a number of dots.  Izzy reached up and touched one.  Information popped up on the sidebar on the right side of the screen.  "Digitammamon, Ultimate level" plus a whole slew of information.  He leaned in and said, "Where's Gennai?"   

A small message appeared on the screen.  "Command not recognized.  Please restate."

"Okay, then.  Search: Gennai."  

The screen centered on a small, purple dot.  Gennai was fairly distant from his house, but he seemed in good condition.  Izzy wondered what could be wrong.  

Tentomon flew into the room.  "What's wrong, Izzy?  I notice you're not doing your homework right now.  Oooh!  Is that some new game?  Let me see."  
  


Izzy smiled at his friend, and flashed his Digivice.  "No, Tentomon.  It's a program from Gennai.  Go get my D-Terminal out of my room, okay?  We need to contact the others.  We're going back to the Digital World!"

-----

To everyone:

Hi guys!  It's me, Izzy.  I've just gotten an e-mail from an old friend, Gennai!  He needs our help in the Digital World again.  He said he couldn't tell me what it was, but I get the feeling it's pretty important.  Since my house is right in the middle of everyone, meet me here in two hours.  Be sure to bring your Digivices and Digimon.  Give me a call or send me an e-mail to let me know you're on your way or if you can't get here that fast.  We're going back!

Izzy Izzumi

-----

It was almost like a party when Tai and Agumon walked in to Izzy's house.  It had been nearly three hours since Izzy had sent his message out, but Tai was the last one to show up.  He'd been in class when Izzy sent the e-mail.  Once he'd gotten it, he also wanted to go home and talk to his parents before he left for the Digital World again.  He'd knew they'd let him go, especially since they'd already given permission for Kari to go, but he knew they wouldn't like it, and wanted to say goodbye in person.  After all, the Digiworld was a dangerous place, and who knows what might happen to him.  

But hey, he was just going to meet with Gennai, and he could always get one of the kids with D3s to take him home if he had to go, right?

Everyone was there, and it was great seeing all of them together again.  Actually, come to think of it, he saw them all the time, but it must have been different this time, because they were there with a purpose.  The Digital World needed them again, and they were happy to respond.  

Izzy was showing off his program to everyone as Tai and Agumon stepped through the door.  Everyone rushed to see them.  Sora gave Tai a quick hug, and Joe picked up Tai in a huge bear hug.  It was quite out of character for him, but he was really excited, and Tai also suspected that he'd been picking up something of a goofy side at college.  Last of all, Matt stepped up, and the two started one of the many strange handshakes they'd invented, which got everyone to laughing.  

Yolei finally spoke up after some short conversation.  "Are we ready to go, then?"

Izzy said, "Hang on a second Yolei, I haven't shown Tai the message that Gennai sent."  

He replayed the message for Tai, who seemed to have a worried expression at the plight of their friend.  Izzy explained the program that Gennai had sent, also, plus what he'd found out about it.  "You see, it's some sort of map of the Digital World, and I can keep track of a number of Digimon with it.  I can pick up Gennai on here too.  It's also got a built-in Digimon Analyzer, like the one I used to have on my old laptop.  I think, though, that it can only track Digimon that we've seen, because there were not very many Digimon on the screen when I first opened it up.  I've plugged in everyone else's Digivices, and a few more showed up each time.  Let me see yours."

Tai handed Izzy his Digivice.  Izzy kept talking as he hooked them up.  "I'm not sure how Gennai's done this, but it'll be a really useful program.  He also picked out a portal for us within a few hours' walk of his location, so that's where we'll go."  A few more dots winked on the screen as Izzy handed Tai's Digivice back to him.  "Is everyone ready?"

"Hey Joe, cute fashion accessory you've got there, " Matt said.  

It was true; Joe was carrying two packs, one of which was pink.  Mimi wasn't carrying anything at all.  Joe blushed a little bit, thought not as much as he would have seven years ago.  _Seven years ago, Joe would have probably dropped both packs, and his face would be so red you could cook eggs on it, _Matt thought.

"I don't know about you, Mr. Rock Star, but some people around here can be nice to ladies," Joe said, winking at Matt.  

Yolei joined in the laughter.  When it subsided, she held up her D3.  "Everyone ready?  Digiport oo—"  She was cut off by Davis' arm blocking hers.  

"Come on Yolei, why do you always get to open the Digiport?"

"Because you're too slow to do it yourself, Mr. 'I-only-have-time-for-soccer!'"

"Well maybe I would have spent time with you if you were as interesting as soccer."

Everyone laughed.  Cody thought to himself, _it was a real mistake, those two trying to get together.  Everyone knew _that_ wasn't going to work out._  They'd dated for almost ten weeks.  Cody won the betting pool; he was the only one who thought they'd last more than two months.  He knew they were both too stubborn to not stick it out till the bitter end.  Not that it was all that bitter, but it had ended six months ago and the two were still sniping at each other.  Cody raised his own D3.

"Digiport open!"

As the twenty-four beings were sucked into the computer, Davis called out, "He—eey…."


	2. Homecoming

Chapter II: Homecoming  
  
It's good to be back again, Ken thought to himself.  Wormmon and I have been away too long, far too long.  Ken had always loved nature, but in his world it was always so tame and contained, as though the cities simply left a little bit of nature as an afterthought, an aside, a monument to times long past.  Here it was all nature; here you could get lost in life.  
  
Yes, it was nice to be back.  
  
Tai spoke up first.  "Well, come on everyone.  Izzy's got Gennai's location up on his computer.  It's a couple hours south of here, and it looks like the sun is already starting to go down."    
  
Davis and Veemon pumped their fists into the air.  "Alright!" Davis cried out.  "We're back, baby!"  Yolei and Hawkmon glanced at each other and rolled their eyes.    
  
Kari stepped aside from the group and laid her pack on the ground.  She set her eyes on the distant horizon.  The sun was only about half an hour away from setting, making the whole world shine with a stunning red-gold color, and the sky swirled with all sorts of wonderful purples and oranges and pinks.  Kari breathed in the deep, cool air of the Digital World.  She could feel her body tingle with life.  
  
TK walked up and settled his hand softly on her shoulder.  He watched the setting sun also, too enraptured with its beauty to look at Kari…for about three seconds, anyway.  They turned and looked at each other.  
  
A pink blur dove between their faces.  "Ooooh, pretty!  Pink, even!"  These two are soooo cute together, Mimi thought to herself.  Mimi was still obsessed with pink, although in recent years she had discovered that black really brought out her favorite color.  With her pink top, she wore loose, black pants.  She remembered the first time she was in the Digital World, spending months here wearing a dress.  That was horrible at the time, Mimi thought, but now that I look back, it was kinda fun.  Not that I'd ever want to do it again.  She was still wearing one of her famed hats, and her strawberry-blonde hair trailed out behind it.  
  
She cast a sly glance at Kari and TK.  "None of that, you two.  Come on, we can't keep Gennai waiting!"  Kari and TK both blushed and turned away.  Kari picked up her pack, and she walked ahead with TK back to the group.  Mimi chuckled to herself.  Those two are so right for each other.  I wonder why they never went out.  Mimi shrugged and walked up to Joe's side and crooked her arm through his.  Joe's face turned a couple shades of red.  Oh well, those two will find their way eventually.  She looked up at Joe.  Oh, he's just so cute...  
  
______________________________  
  
As they twenty-four companions marched along, they all thought that this march was less like a march, and more like a pleasant stroll in the countryside.  The day had passed into night, and the hundreds of colors shaded into whites and grays.  Agumon and Tentomon had developed the wonderful ability to act as torches, Agumon by keeping one of his Pepper Breaths in his mouth, and Tentomon by running a bit of his own electricity back through himself.  They had developed this exceedingly useful trick one time when Izzy, Tai, Tentomon, and Agumon were on a road trip and Tai lost his keys.  It was a backwoods parking lot in the middle of a town you could miss by blinking, and it took them almost twenty minutes to discover they were in Tai's other pocket.  But when they had been searching the ground, Tentomon and Agumon had provided some light.  
  
   
  
Now, Tentomon and Agumon walked ahead of the group, providing a little light to guide their path.  They stopped about an hour into their march to eat a small bit of food.  Izzy pulled out his computer to check his bearings.  
  
He saw that they were a bit off course, but only a bit, nothing out of the ordinary.  He got a detailed scan of Gennai and saw that he was fine.  There were a number of Digimon around him, also.  Izzy casually flipped through them and smiled.  It looked like they were going to see some old friends, too.  Gennai didn't seem to be in any danger.  He set about scanning the area around them.  There were a number of Digimon all around, but they were spread out, and none seemed to have taken notice of them.  All looked quiet on their front.  So what was this emergency Gennai talked about?  Izzy moved to rejoin his friends.    
  
Matt said, "So Izzy, how's it looking?"  
  
"Gennai seems to be okay, and I haven't seen unusual numbers of Digimon around here.  It seems like we're in the clear."  
  
"Well that's good to hear.  I hope the Digital World is okay," Sora said.    
  
"What do you think that Gennai wants?" Ken said.  "We've been called, well, all of you have been called, into this world three times before now.  Once it was to give up the power of your crests, and twice it was to defend the Digital World," from me, he added silently.  "I still have my crest, and some of us have our Digi-eggs, so maybe he needs those for something."    
  
Gatomon spoke up.  "And we can still Digivolve to Ultimate.  I've done it a few times since we defeated MaloMyotismon.  Maybe he needs the power from that Digicore he used on us. Or maybe he needs my tail ring for something."  
  
Izzy said, "That could be, Gatomon, but why would Gennai not be at home?  And why would sending a message to us would be a risk for him, unless there was someone for us to fight?"  
  
That was a sobering thought.  It isn't going to be fun and games.  Sure, it is great to be back here, but the road home is going to be a long, dangerous one, Joe thought to himself.  Hey, none of that now.  He stood up.  
  
"Come on guys.  I know you're thinking the same thing that I am.  It's going to be tough, probably tougher than all of us thought.  This isn't going to be a picnic.  But the Digital World, and maybe our own world, needs us.  This world is calling us again to help save it, and darnit, I'm going to do it!"  Joe awkwardly sat back down.  Mimi leaned in on his arm and whispered in his ear, "Oh, what a strong man!"  Joe looked down at her, remembering when they'd just been kids, and she'd said those words.  The memory brought a smile to both their faces.  If we get out of this...Joe started, but he didn't finish the thought.  If I'm fighting for anyone, it's for her. Not the worlds, her.  
  
Davis stood up.  "Joe's right!  We can't give up now, we've got to fight whoever and whatever it is, no matter what!"  
  
Matt joined him.  "Yeah, let's go everyone!"  
  
As everyone got up to gather their things, Davis noticed that Yolei seemed a little distracted.  He sat down beside her, "Something wrong, Yolei?"    
  
Her voice was distant and quiet.  "Not really...well, I was just thinking--  
  
"And we all know how dangerous that can be."    
  
"Oh, Davis!  Ugh...I swear, boys can be such jerks at times, especially you!"  
  
   
  
"Okay, okay, sorry.  What were you thinking about?"  
  
"Well, Izzy said he scanned the area around us for other Digimon, right?"  
  
"Yeah, he did.  So?"  
  
"Didn't he also say that his program can only track Digimon we've already met?"  
  
Everyone froze and looked sharply at Yolei.  Izzy dashed to his computer and flipped the top up.  As he panned around, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, and breathed a sigh of relief.  But just as he finished the scan, he noticed a large patch where there were no Digimon at all.  It was a few hundred meters wide, and growing by the second.  What's more, all the blue dots of Digimon were running away from it.  One blue dot fell behind the others and winked out.  Izzy slammed the top of his laptop down hard and winced as he did so, but there was no time to worry about it now.  
  
"Move it!"  He called.  "Something's coming, something big!"  
  
______________________________  
  
By the time everything was packed up, the Digidestined had begun to hear faint crashing noises.  Biyomon had silently gone back to see what it was, and was just returning when they began to leave.  She dropped quietly into Sora's arms.  Everyone started to run, but clustered around Sora as Biyomon talked.  
  
"Oh, Sora, it was incredible.  Hundreds of Digimon are coming!  It was terrible; they trampled the forest and killed all the Digimon they ran across.  And they had these strange, red, glowing eyes.  We've got to get away from here right now!"  
  
As they kept running, Izzy called out, "Make for that hill over there!  I'll explain when we get there!"  As they mounted the summit of the hill, they saw the light of Izzy's computer screen.  He wasted no time.  
  
"Do you see that mountain about three miles south of us?  Gennai's signal is coming about half a mile further south of that.  We should split up by twos, and meet there.  Four people can evade an army like that much more easily than twenty-four.  Split up and let's move!"  
  
Matt paired up with Ken, Sora grabbed Tai, Joe went with Mimi, TK and Kari nodded at each other, and Izzy and Cody partnered.  They wished each other good luck, and ran off into the forest.  Davis looked back and forth.  Yolei was the only one left.  Davis sighed.  
  
Yolei grabbed his arm.  "Aw, come on Davis, this'll be fun, running for our lives.  It reminds me of one of our dates!"    
  
Davis just sighed again.  "I didn't know he was a cop, okay!" 


	3. Flight

Chapter III: Flight   
  
Matt, Ken, Gabumon, and Wormmon ran low to the ground, though it was difficult for Wormmon to run any other way. What's that? Ken thought to himself. He looked behind him and saw a Flymon coming. He tackled Matt to the ground as it shot through the trees over their head. They were lucky it didn't see them.  
  
"Whew, thanks Ken. That was close."  
  
"No problem, buddy. Let's keep moving."  
  
Matt and Ken got up and started running again. They didn't know where they were going, exactly, but it was somewhere that all those other Digimon weren't. Hopefully, Matt thought.  
  
They saw a ditch off to their left and slid down into it. A few seconds later, half a dozen Digimon leapt over it. The four got up and started to run along its length, but a shadowy figure fell in with a crash and blocked their path. It was an Elecmon, and its eyes were glowing red. Its face was a mask of surprise, and its momentary hesitation cost it, "Goo Blaster!"  
  
The Elecmon was knocked through the air and landed on its back ten feet away. It was lying in a puddle of blue goo as they ran past it.  
  
They heard a loud snapping sound, and further up the ditch, a light shone out. A pale blue head popped out into the ditch. It called out, "Over here!" Matt and Ken skidded to a stop in front of it. A large door had opened in the ditch, and behind it was standing Centaurumon.  
  
"Centaurumon!" Matt cried out. "It's good to see you again!"  
  
Wormmon said, "It's nice to meet you. Should I know you?"  
"He's--"  
  
"There's no time for introductions now. Get in here, Gennai sent me!"  
  
"Gennai!" The four said in unison.  
  
"Well, why didn't you say so?" Matt said.  
  
_______________  
  
Sora and Tai found themselves in the thick of everything. Hundreds of Digimon had already passed them, and they were only able to move now by staying low and going very, very slowly. Had they had Izzy's map program available, they would have seen that they were now approaching the back of the pack, and it might have been easiest for them to just head away from Gennai's place and circle around. But they didn't know that, so they pressed on ahead as best they could. They had been incredibly lucky so far; there were times that they wondered how they could have not been seen, but they knew there was no way that their luck would last.  
  
Sora saw another cluster of Digimon coming their way, and pulled Tai down behind a bush. Agumon and Biyomon dove behind another. A Meramon leapt over the bush that the two Digimon were hiding behind. He cleared the bush with ease, but wasn't expecting something to be behind it. His foot caught Agumon's head and he went sprawling across the ground. The fiery Digimon turned his head back to see what he'd tripped over. What he saw caused a look of shock to come over his face, Humans? In the Digital World? That hasn't happened since...Gennai, it must be Gennai. The master should know this, it thought. "Magma Blast!"  
  
A ball of fire shot out of his hands. Agumon ducked underneath it while Biyomon flew over it. The flame struck a tree, turning into a charred, barren hulk. Meramon cried, "Over here! I've found something!" Within seconds, Sora and Tai were surrounded by two dozen nasty-looking Digimon. Their eyes were glowing an eerie red.  
  
"Alright, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get! Agumon!"  
  
"I'm on it Tai!"  
  
"Agumon warp digivolve to...MetalGreymon!"  
  
Meramon looked up at the hulk that now towered over him and all his other Digimon allies. It was at least thirty feet tall, and had enormous metal wings and a metal arm. Two panels opened up on its chest to reveal a pair of nasty looking missiles. It said in a raspy voice, "Giga Blaster!" Two streaks shot out into the attackers. Oh crap...this is just not my day.  
  
MetalGreymon blasted huge holes in the attacker's ranks, but now more Digimon were coming, and for every one he destroyed, another two took its place. What's more, the Digimon were starting to return fire. Tai ducked a stray shot from a Tankmon's Hyper Cannon. He yelled, "Hey, MetalGreymon, I think we really need to get out of here!"  
  
"Metal Claw!"  
  
MetalGreymon's arm drove into the ground in between Sora and Tai. "Grab on!" Tai said. Tai and Sora held on tightly as MetalGreymon retracted his claw and set the two humans safely on his back. He raised his metal wings to give Sora and Tai some protection from incoming fire. He took a three-step running start, crushing Digimon left and right, and took off into the air.  
  
MetalGreymon soared above the treetops. Vast stretches of terrain opened up before them, and on it, they saw hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Digimon, all running, flying, rolling, or jumping towards the mountain off in the distance. Seeing the enormous bulk of MetalGreymon silhouetted against the sky, several turned to fire at him. There seemed to be no leader in this chaos, indeed, there seemed to be no Digimon more powerful than Champion anywhere, and any incoming shots were uselessly expended against MetalGreymon's thick skin.  
  
Biyomon, meanwhile, had used the confusion caused by MetalGreymon to quietly perch in the trees. When all seemed clear, she shot off for the sky unnoticed, and landed in Sora's arms.  
  
Sora said, "Looks like we've attracted some attention down there."  
  
"Yeah, sure does. I hope that'll make it easier for our friends to get out."  
  
"Biyomon, I think it's time we give our friends a little hand too."  
  
"Right!"  
  
"Biyomon digivolve to...Birdramon!"  
  
Birdramon set out on an impressive display of flying ability. She launched her Meteor Wing attacks down onto the crowd below, raining down destruction on the onrushing foes, and lighting the trees on fire in several places. She was only a Champion and wouldn't survive many hits from the Champions below, but she flew so high that few attacks could reach her, and for those few that could, she avoided them by using MetalGreymon's body as a screen.  
  
Birdramon was flying far above MetalGreymon when she called out, "Sora, look out!"  
  
MetalGreymon was just coming to the lip of a cliff. The cliff face was sheer and fell for seventy or eighty feet to a plain below. It stretched off for miles in both directions, and as far as Tai could see, formed an approximate half-circle around the mountain, which was looming ever closer off in the distance. The meaning of Birdramon's warning quickly became apparent.  
  
Thousands of Digimon were arrayed in battle columns at the foot of the cliff. Nearest to Tai and Sora was a battery of Tankmon that had apparently been advised of their coming. As MetalGreymon's enormous form cleared the cliff, the Tankmon unleashed a barrage of Hyper Cannon shells. Fortunately, MetalGreymon had enough warning and presence of mind to stop and perch himself on the edge of the cliff. The incoming shots cleared his head and exploded uselessly in the forest behind him. He used his powerful legs to spring himself far into the air, well above the enemy Tankmon below. A second round of shells lanced out towards MetalGreymon's massive bulk.  
  
"Birdramon digivolve to...Garudamon!"  
  
"Wing Blade!"  
  
The bird-shaped fireball dove down in front of MetalGreymon and intercepted most of the onrushing shells, exploding them. The attack continued on down to explode among the Tankmon, scattering them. MetalGreymon's momentum had taken him clear of the Tankmon and as few of the other Digimon below had the range to reach him, most attacks that were attempted on him fizzled out or fell back down to explode among the ranks below. MetalGreymon reached the peak of his jump, and extended his metal wings to slow his descent.  
  
"Nightmare shocker!"  
  
A dozen bolts of blue energy rose and blasted MetalGreymon. He yelled in pain and retracted his wings out of instinct, causing him to drop fifty feet before extending them again. A small squad of Vilemon rose from the trees before them, now flying above MetalGreymon. Their field of fire now encompassed the children.  
  
It was Garudamon's turn to be a hero. "Wing Blade!"  
  
The Vilemon were dispersed by Garudamon's attack. Her giant claws batted aside another three before the rest got the idea and turned back. MetalGreymon landed at the base of the mountain, a good two miles from any enemy. Sora and Tai jumped off as he de-digivolved into Koromon. The little guy fell into Tai's arms, exhausted. Garudamon likewise de-digivolved into Biyomon, though she seemed less tired, and flapped happily above Sora's head.  
  
Tai looked down at the tiny pink blob in his arms. "You okay, buddy?"  
  
"You try letting Tankmon shoot at your stomach for a while and see how you feel!"  
  
Tai smiled at his little friend. "Alright guys, let's get moving, Gennai should be somewhere on the south side. Hopefully we'll see our friends there."  
  
They hadn't been jogging for more than five minutes when a familiar voice called out from the mountainside, "Hey, Tai, Sora, up here guys!"  
  
Was that...Billy Crystal? Sora thought.  
  
"Frigimon!" Tai said.  
  
"Hurry up you two, Gennai's waiting!"  
  
_______________  
  
Joe, Mimi, Gomamon, and Palmon raced along, hotly pursued by a pair of Apemon. Joe was still carrying his and Mimi's bag, and as Gomamon was neither terribly fast nor terribly heavy, Mimi was carrying him.  
  
"Energy Cannon!" A crimson beam arced through a tree to Joe's right, bowing it in the middle and blasting shards of wood through the forest.  
  
"Mimi, I think we may have to--"  
  
Joe yelped as he tripped and fell over an outstretched root. He tried to get back to his feet, but in a second one of the Apemon was on top of him, cannon pointed at his face. Mimi stopped and screamed, but Gomamon and Palmon were too far away to do anything. Joe closed his eyes and waited for the end.  
  
"Energy..."  
  
"...Whack!"  
  
Energy Whack? That isn't Apemon's attack... A white bone swept through the air over Joe's head and drove deep into the Apemon's chest, splitting him into bits of data.  
  
"Pummel Whack!"  
  
A lance of black energy struck the other Apemon in his chest, knocking him through the air. It skidded to a stop against a tree, twenty feet away.  
"Ogremon!" Mimi dropped Gomamon and wrapped her old friend up in a huge hug. Huge for Mimi, that is, Joe thought to himself. He smiled.  
  
"Ahh, what are you doing?"  
  
"Oh, it's good to see you again Ogremon!"  
  
"Yeah, it really is lucky you come along when you did," Joe said, picking himself up off the ground.  
  
"Thank me later, we've got to get out of here now. Quick, down this hole!"  
  
"Joe, hey Joe!" Gomamon was flat on his back and trying very hard to flip over. "It's hard to do this without hands, you know!"  
  
"Oh, Gomamon, I'm so sorry!" Mimi ran over to him and picked him up. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine Mimi." There was a dreamy edge in Gomamon's voice. He's as much in love with Mimi as I am, Joe thought.   
  
Ogremon's head popped up. "Get a move on you guys! There's no time to stick around here!"  
  
_______________  
  
Yolei and Davis had struck upon a quiet path where they met few Digimon. They didn't know it at the time, but they had slipped almost completely outside of the oncoming tide of Digimon. Davis stopped and stretched for a bit. "Well, looks like we've made it out. And you didn't want to come this way."  
  
"I have to admit, Davis, you actually did something right for once."  
  
"Thanks! Wait...hey!"  
  
"Good old Davis...Hawkmon, maybe you'd better go take a look around."  
  
"Indeed," Hawkmon said.  
  
Hawkmon flew off into the trees above them.  
  
Davis looked around. "Hey, Veemon, maybe you'd better go take a look around too."  
  
"Right, Davis!"  
  
"Here, I'll help out. DigiArmor energize!"  
  
"Veemon armor digivolve to...Raidramon!"  
  
Raidramon scampered off into the forest to scout the surrounding area. Yolei and Davis were all alone now.  
  
"You know, you don't always have to insult me, Yolei, especially in front of our friends."  
  
"Oh come on Davis, you know I'm just kidding. Besides, you do it to me, too, and I don't mind. "  
  
"Yeah...well, I'm going to try and stop. There's no point in insulting you like I do, Yolei. It never helped anything."  
  
"Davis, really, you're getting a little weird on me. It never hurt anything either."  
  
Davis just looked off into the forest for a long minute. "I'm sorry Yolei...just sorry."  
  
Yolei sat in quiet amazement. I don't think I've ever heard Davis say that before.  
A few minutes later, Raidramon rode in among them and Hawkmon followed close on his heels. Hawkmon especially looked looked a little shocked and worried. "There is another group of Digimon coming this way, about half a mile north. There were coming directly at us, but they've turned back towards where we started from."  
  
"Any idea why?" Yolei said.  
  
"Yes. I saw MetalGreymon and Birdramon in the sky that direction. I believe the other Digimon have gone after them. I also got a good view of the lands around. There are several groups of Digimon converging on the mountain. A few hundred feet south of us is a cliff, which goes on for miles in either direction. It seems to surround the mountain, at least as far as I can see."  
  
Raidramon chimed in. "I good a good, long look over the cliff. Down there is what appears to be a very large army. I think these groups of Digimon out here are a part of that army, on their way to reinforce it. There is one large path that they are all using to get down the cliff, which is the general direction in which we were heading before we split up."  
  
"Alright Hawkmon, why don't you just digivolve into Halsemon and fly us out of here? DigiArmor--"  
  
Davis cut her off. "Wait a second Yolei. We can't fly out of here; we'll be seen once we were out past that cliff. And our Digimon can't digivolve to Ultimate, so we'll just be blasted out of the sky."  
  
"What do you suggest Davis, that we just run off the cliff!?"  
  
"Raidramon can do it. We've done it before. And his colors will let him blend in. While MetalGreymon and Birdramon are distracting those Digimon, we can sneak right past them."  
  
Yolei thought for a second. "Fine Davis, let's do it your way, again."  
  
Davis climbed on the back of his little blue friend. "Climb on, Yolei."  
  
_______________  
  
Cody and Izzy, the other hand, were really in the thick of things. They had originally tried to escape outside the group of Digimon, but quickly scrapped that plan. Instead they found themselves amongst an enormous cluster of running figures. Izzy concluded that they weren't very good searchers; they should have been spotted easily if anyone had tried very hard to look for them.  
  
Cody leaned over to Izzy and whispered, "We can't stay here! Someone is going to fins us eventually."  
  
"I think you're right, Cody, but I can't think of a way out of this one."  
  
"I could have Armadillomon digivolve into Digmon and dig us a hole, but the sound of the drill would attract attention."  
  
"I think Tentomon and I can take care of a distraction. Tentomon, are you ready?"  
  
"Ready, Izzy!" Tentomon replied  
  
Armadillomon turned to Cody, "Let's do this before I get stomped on!"  
  
"DigiArmor Energize!"  
  
"Armadillomon armor digivolve to...Digmon!"  
  
"Tentomon digivolve to...Kabuterimon!"  
  
"Electro Shocker!" The blast of electricity blew a chunk out of the ground, blasting back several smaller Digimon. Kabuterimon darted behind a tree to evade the scattered incoming fire, and then he shot off in another direction, sending out more electric blasts and attacking random Digimon.  
  
Digmon used the confusion to bring all three of his drills to bear on the ground. He was built for this kind of work, and in a couple minutes had gone almost twenty feet into the ground. Meanwhile, Kabuterimon had to duck more and more frequently, as the Digimon began to get the idea that they were under attack. Cody and Digmon were already in the hole as Izzy cried out, "Down here!"  
  
Kabuterimon dropped from the sky, sliding under two incoming energy blasts, while de-digivolving into Tentomon. He dropped into Izzy's outstretched arms. Izzy turned and ran back up the tunnel. "Digmon! We're in!"  
  
Digmon turned towards the entrance. "Gold Rush!" An explosion rocked the mouth of the mon-made cave. Chunks of dirt and rock and clay fell and blocked up the entrance. "Tentomon, a little light, if you please," said Digmon.  
  
"Glad to," Tentomon replied.  
  
With a little of Tentomon's light, Digmon made good progress. About five minutes later, he broke through into an enormous tunnel. It was quite a shock; none of them had any idea that there was a system of tunnels under the Digital World. Even stranger, it seemed to be fairly well lit.  
  
"Izzy! Cody!" A familiar voice called.  
  
"Matt! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Centaurumon's giving us a ride! We're going to meet up with Gennai!"  
  
"Just follow this tunnel straight on! We'll be waiting at the end!" Centaurumon said.  
  
Izzy and Cody sat in silence for a moment. Cody spoke up first. "Is it just me, or does this place keep getting weirder and weirder?" 


	4. Dramon Rush In

Chapter IV: Dramon rush in...  
  
Kari, TK, Gatomon, and Patamon dashed along through the ever-growing darkness. The undergrowth was thick and twisted, and the going was difficult. Difficult for the humans that is, the larger digimon pursuing them had no such problems.  
  
It had been difficult going for a while after they parted from their comrades, but they were both lucky and skilled, and evaded detection. They finally thought they were almost in the clear, when one of the digimon caught the glint of Gatomon's tail ring. A long chase ensued, lasting for several torturous minutes, winding through stretches of dark forest, always towards the mountain looming off in the distance.  
  
Gatomon was worried, though they were widening the gap between them now, for she and Patamon went ahead of their human partners and cleared a pathway for them. Her claws were especially suited to clearing paths large enough to speed the movement of the humans and yet small enough to provide no aid to their larger pursuers. No, there seemed to be nothing to fear there. A few more minutes, and they would be in the clear. And even if they were caught and surrounded, they had a last resort; they could still digivolve and take their chances in the air.  
  
No, Gatomon wasn't afraid of that. It was the behavior of their pursuers that bothered her. Gatomon had spent her share of time with unruly mobs, particularly after having worked as Myotismon's captain (although at the time she felt `emancipated', and preferred others to call her a `captainess'). These Digimon should be frustrated, angry, and upset at having lost their quarry. Instead, the prospect of losing those they were chasing didn't seem to bother them at all. Losing a chase could have easily meant death in Myotismon's army, a death I sometimes dealt out, Gatomon thought. No, what this felt like was a trap.  
  
A trap! "Stop!" Gatomon yelled. She suited action to word, and jammed her fleet paws into the ground. She nearly skidded to a stop before she felt herself falling over the edge of a cliff. Slowly, she teetered on the edge, trying desperately to regain her balance, and then she felt herself falling.  
  
"Gatomon!" she heard Kari cry. But it was too late; she and TK were too far behind to catch her. Suddenly, she felt two small paws settle on her tail, and then a sharp yank. She let out a sharp cry of pain, but knew better than to struggle. Air whooshed passed her face, courtesy of Patamon's wings. The pain on her tail was excruciating, but she held her tongue and simply waited. TK ran up behind Patamon and together the two of them pulled Gatomon to safety. They all lay on the ground, TK and Patamon breathing hard, and Kari stroking Gatomon's fur. Once Gatomon found her voice again, she said, "Thanks Patamon, thanks TK."  
  
"Don't mention it," Patamon said.  
  
"Yeah, you would've done the same for us. Besides, how many times have you two saved our lives?" TK added.  
  
Gatomon got back to her feet. Her fur was suddenly standing on end. "Uh, guys, I think we've got a bigger problem here."  
  
It was true. In all the excitement, they had forgot about the pursuit. They heard cackles of laughter from a dozen different voices around them. Deep in the forest, dozens of pairs of red eyes provided an eerie backlight. Slowly, steadily, they moved in on the trapped humans and their Digimon.  
  
TK looked down at his friends. "Alright guys, it's time to fight! Let's show `em what were made of! Let's go!"  
  
"Patamon digivolve to...Angemon!" "Hand of Fate!"  
  
"Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon!" "Celestial Arrow!"  
  
The two angel's attack split the ranks of oncoming Digimon, sending them scattering for cover. TK saw two Bakemon be reconfigured, and Kari saw a DarkTyrannamon fall to Angewomon's blazing arrow. Now they came on as a large crowd.  
  
"Angemon! Cover me!" Angewomon's hands began to glow pink as she said these words. Angemon got the message and stepped in the path of two overzealous Phantomon, who had outdistanced their fellows. He ducked their sickles, and knocked them both away with his staff.  
  
"Angemon! Get out of the way!"  
  
"Heaven's Charm!"  
  
A wave of pink energy blasted through the forest. Angemon used his wings to drive himself out of the way. There was no time for anyone else to react. Trees split and cracked under the barrage, and those unlucky enough to be hiding behind them were cut in half. The wave continued out and dissipated in the distant forest. The area was clear.  
  
"Quick, Angewomon, let's get Kari and TK and get out of here!"  
  
"Right!"  
  
They swooped down to pick up their partners. Kari leaned on Angewomon's arm as they sped up and away from the cliff. She looked back down on the space they'd left behind. "Oh no! TK, what's that!?"  
  
She could see no Digimon left on the platform, but there was something there. The area around it was twisted and warped; it seemed as though everything around it swirled down into this one place. The center itself was dark and, though Kari could not physically feel it, she knew it was cold. It made her whole body go cold and numb just to look at it.  
  
TK, however, did recognize it. "Kari! Don't look at it! It's just like what Pegasusmon and I saw in the Dark Whirlpool! It's just some dark energy, Kari, just fight against it, it'll go away!"  
  
Oh I will, will I? The words rang in their heads. They thought they had heard it, but they knew they couldn't have, it was all in their heads. Isn't it? Kari thought.  
  
Suddenly, Angemon and Angewomon fell from the sky. There had been no flash, no attack, nothing at all that Kari could see. But now she plummeted back to the cliff below. Angewomon had the strength to keep her hold on Kari despite the attack, but Angemon was not so lucky. TK was falling to the earth below. "TK!" Kari cried. She saw him steady himself as he fell. A look of calmness seemed to pass over his face. A flash off to her left attracted her attention.  
  
"Angemon digivolve to...MagnaAngemon!"  
  
His strength renewed, MagnaAngemon dove towards the ground and gathered the falling TK in his arms. But once again, he was blasted back onto the cliff. The dark disturbance drew closer to them. MagnaAngemon and Angewomon were lying heaped against each other. Kari was doing a little better than TK, who had a large gash opened across his forehead and many on his exposed arms. His breathing was rough and ragged, but he was alright, and was able to sit up.  
  
Why, it seems to me that all these trees are getting in the way of your meeting each other. When that statement was finish, every tree on the cliff, for hundreds of feet around them, plucked itself out of the ground and floated into the air. Kari could see a few Digimon up there as well, Digimon with red glowing eyes. They were deleted along with the upraised forest.  
  
Kari and TK gasped in amazement. Now a shape was beginning to take form in the dark cloud before them. It was man-shaped, but larger and broader than any man Kari had ever seen. His muscles bulged against his cloak, which was made of a crimson-red material and was darkened with purple trim. A sword was strapped to his side. Dark energy wrapped around him, causing his cloak and hair to ripple and sway with its breeze. Death was in his gaze; his power exuded from every pore.  
  
"Greetings, son and daughter of that which is and children of that which is not. I am Majinmon. Welcome to my world. Say your last goodbyes to both."  
  
He drew his sword and, with lightning-quick speed, stopped before Kari. An evil glint flashed in his eye as he raised his sword above his head, intending to split her from head to navel. Kari cowered in fear. All is lost, she thought. I've lost everything, Gatomon, Tai, TK...Oh, TK! Why did I never tell you? What have we missed out on? All this flashed through her head, and more, all thoughts of what she had lost. She looked up again to see Majinmon's wrist begin to flick. Time seemed to stop for her. Two white, glowing butterflies slid past Majinmon's head. He did not seem to notice, and they landed on Kari's ear and quietly spoke in her head.  
  
Light shines brightest in deepest night.   
  
Light and Hope, they are forever together.  
  
Believe Child of Truth, believe.  
  
Kari could feel a new strength surging through her. A light shone on Majinmon's face; an artificial light. Kari realized it was coming from her chest. It was her crest! It shone as brightly as ever. Her crest grew and grew, and it left her chest, and moved between her and Majinmon. It grew ever more, as wide as Kari was tall and the same in height. Majinmon's sword drove into the crest, sending dark and white energies cackling and surging about the newly cleared cliff. Slowly, little by little, Majinmon's sword broke through Kari's crest. Finally, the crest split under the power of the sword, and Majinmon drove the sword down at Kari again.  
  
Or he would have, if there had been any sword left. From the hilt up, the sword had disintegrated into digital data. Majinmon sighed and dropped the hilt of his sword. Dark energies gathered into his hand, and he prepared to fire them at Kari. It was just then that a miracle happened.  
  
Angewomon jumped to her feet. She could feel her power surging again. More and more power drew to her now. It filled her up, and her face began to glow, and then her hands, and then her entire body. The power made her shake and quail. It burst from her in an explosion of white light, covering her, and then shooting out from her in all directions. She drew back her head and yelled as the energy surged through her.  
  
"Angewomon digivolve to...MagnaDramon!" 


End file.
